The Nation

A "Taste of Truth to Tell"

Sun, 03/15/2015 - 10:06pm | by Craig

On-air date:

Mon, 03/16/2015

You’ve heard of local events such as “Taste of Minnesota” and “Taste of the Twin Cities”? Today on Truth To Tell, in keeping with the season of KFAI's Pledge Drive, we thought we’d give you a “Taste of Truth To Tell” — inviting guests who embody some of the core values of Truth To Tell and its parent organization, Civic Media Minnesota.

Today’s guests, like all Truth To Tell guests, are relevant, topical, and currently out on the streets making a difference. Join host Siobhan Kierens as she discusses current issues with Miski Noor and Nero Mahdi from Black Lives Matter, V.J. Smith from Minneapolis Mad Dads, and Misty Rowan from the Minneapolis Chapter of the Anti-War Committee.

“Slavery, racism and structural oppression are all figments of black imagination”: This is the lie that we need to discuss. Slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment in 1865, and five years later the 15th Amendment granted black men the right to vote. Flash forward to 2015: We have the first African-American president in office and yet we’re still having the slavery, race, oppression conversation. Why is this and what can we do to change the rhetoric?

MAD DADS was formed to mobilize strong drug-free men of faith to reclaim their neighborhood, one child at a time. The volunteers of MAD DADS have spent numerous hours on the streets bringing positive, proactive advice and progressive involvement with troubled youth.

Terrorist or Activist? Just last week, cars full of Minnesotans drove to Detroit to stand up for Rasmea Odeh on her day of sentencing. Rasmea is a Palestinian activist who was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but will be fighting this on appeal. Misty Rowan, from the Anti-War Committee helped organize and support Rasmea on the Minnesota front. The heart of the issue is that individuals are being targeted as terrorists and being treated as such. Recently the shootings in Chapel Hill, N.C. drew attention to the issues associated with Islamophobia and hard-working individuals being singled out as targets for extradition.